Aug 4 - What You've Been Waiting For - Finished!

"Toes Up" Original oil on linen, 9 x 12 $475
There he is, all comfy and totally zonked out. Even the whiskers are in (enlarge it to eight inches to see), and the hierarchy of edges is in place. I didn't detail out the links on the collar, and I kept those values lower. Unlike the details around the mouth and eye, because that's where I want the muzzle to be more important. The pure circle-shape of the collar ring could have been a huge eye-catcher, so again lowering the value helped there. Squint your eyes and see how it melts into the background!

Now look at that rightmost hind foot and how it "reads right" as a gray blue mid value. Even though you saw it earlier and saw the contrast between it and the front paws--can you see why having both back feet lower in value keeps you in the painting? Values are SO important in design. Knowing where to put them to create the composition is a very left-brain thing (although after a couple thousand paintings it can become right-brain intuitive).

News around here...the last couple days have seen a crew on Two Trees clearing the fire breaks for another long season where we worry about wildland fires. Being inside the Preserve means keeping all loose brush/leaves/pine needles bagged up and away. But this year's clearing required heavy equipment and hand laborers. Here's a picture of our blooming bougainvillea on the back fence, now bisecting a nicely cleared area. All that tan stuff on the far mountain is fuel in the form of dry grass. But we're inside a cleared ring around our place. Rain? What's that?

My demo for Ukiah is coming up on August 13, and then the workshop in Sebastopol, ending with a second demonstration on August 20 there. I'm thinking about what I need to take with me for these exciting events!

You can see my entire blog HERE.
My workshop schedule for 2009 is HERE.
Color System information can be found HERE.
If you need to email me directly, please click here.

Aug 1 - Going to the Dogs Lesson Painting Continues

I emphasize the value structure and impact a painting needs to have to really be worthy for a second, closer look. Although not set in stone, as many artists make a body of work that doesn't have this feature, I believe that for "most" artists, a strong value structure will carry the day.

At this point I'm painting big shapes of a particular value to hold together the structure of the coming details. You saw the source material yesterday, so you know at least in your mind, what is coming. But at this stage, look at the beautiful brushwork on the right side, and the subtle complementary colors of orange and blue in that lower right section of dark! Wow. No matter how detailed the dog becomes, that area will be a secondary area of interest. No dog eyelashes yet! Details come later, after the value structure is in place. All of this so far has been done with the cool box colors.

This is fun, painting with the juicy Classic Artist Oils. I still love acrylics, both Open and traditional, yet it is such fun to do a thick, juicy oil to mix it up.

I had a wonderful visit from a former student who graciously credits me with giving him direction when he needed it about ten years ago. Frank Stockton is an editorial illustrator now living in New York, and his imagery is on the cover of Communication Arts this month. The link will take you to the magazine's page where you'll see him and his work. Teaching has so many rewards, and knowing Frank has been at the top of the list lately. Check his web site and look over his list of clients! He admits that there was a lot of hard work to get where he is now.

Congratulations to Roy Renfro of Plano, Texas, on his purchase of the plein air Rocks painting which has been added to his collection of Elins!

You can see my entire blog HERE.
My workshop schedule for 2009 is HERE.
Color System information can be found HERE.
If you need to email me directly, please click here.

February 17 - Whippet Painting Finished!

"In Hot Pursuit", original oil, 12 x 36 inches. The addition of the splashing and sparkling water, plus the details on the head, legs and muscles don't show up as well as they would if I could make this a larger image! I have made it eight inches across, which is bigger than what I'd normally bring to your email, and the web site. It does show more of the detail. I just really am happy with the colors in this light and the suggestion of the dog chasing something that has gone out of the picture. It pleases me that this came out of my head, placing the daylit dog in evening light and designing the background to enhance that feeling. I'm hoping to save this one for an art show that features dogs down the calendar way a bit.

February 16 - Continuing the Whippet Painting

This part of the painting process is to cover the canvas and start to develop the lights of those value areas defined yesterday. Now the colors start to dance against one another and the fluid motion of the dog is starting to take shape, along with her three-dimensionality. I am thoroughly enjoying painting this piece--purely for my own development and also for the statement of the gracea nd beauty of whippets. Eagle eyed members of the list have pointed out the front shoulder area as being "not quite right" and I'm going to make some more changes to that structure to clarify the lift and reach of the forelegs. No splashing water yet, that is to come tomorrow! The colors of the background are also flowing through red, orange, yellow and over to blue and violet. I do hope you can see that I've held to the value plan throughout! Again, this ia a 12 x 36 inch canvas, and an oil.

February 14 - Starting the Canvas, Whippet Painting

Here is the canvas--yes, a 12 by 36 inch format--long and wide, with the first sketch laid in and a rough start on the color of he dog in shadow. I lifted off the mid-tone layer behind the dog's head, because I am wanting to have tha area be where the sunlight glints off of he water. You can see the sketch of the splash of what the dog pursues laid in on the far left.
This long, horizontal format seems to make the dog move more swiftly. If you are conveying speed or vertical rise, one effect to enhance that feel is to choose a canvas shape that seems to duplicate that. As this progresses, I'll talk about how each brush stroke works to push the dog forward and move your eye across, not up and down, the composition.

And getting an email such as the lines below is the reason why I take the time to write back to each one of you:

...the memories you have stirred. Our neighbour bred and raced Whippets all through my chidhood. Ive not seen or heard of Whippetts since I moved North. Ginny was our fav and I so loved watching her race.

You give me the gift of seeing fragments of your lives, and knowing that what I'm doing means something for you... it gives me such great satisfaction to live a life where the gifts are always moving. A long time ago I read Lewis' thesis on the Erotic Life of Property, and, contrary to its racy title, is a rather dry read of the study of gift within the cultures the islands of the South Pacific. In a nutshell, it is paying it forward without expecting something in return. It has molded my life, and given back countless unexpected gifts.

February 13 - Beginning the Whippet Painting, the Sketches

I'm starting a painting that has been in my head for about two weeks, and I sure hope it matches up with the idea of it! It is different in that the format or canvas is a three to one ratio. That is to say, the canvas will be three times as long as it is high, very unusual. However, this has to happen to convey what I feel to be important--the speed and grace of the extended reach of the dog's movement. There is a story in this one as well, as you can see a small spash on the left side indicating something has moved out of the picture, but is what the whippet is headed for. 

My Dad had a whippet named "Dido" in Hawaii in the mid 1930s, and I have two silver trophy bowls from her show career. Later in Canyon Lake, my folks had Keiki Makana, a whippet that I used to watch running free in the open flats of undeveloped land. She was greased lightening and a joy to watch with her flow and effortless movement!
Today I share the two working sketches for this larger painting, and you can see me figuring out the placement, and the values in the lower one. This will be backlit with a high attention on the water and the splashes. I'm going to love painting those beautiful dog muscles, too!

December 26 - Border Collie Commission Finished

A full day, painting this commission to its completion. I placed Jake on the edge of a pasture, near the line of trees that borders many green areas in Kentucky. I put the opening in front of him, showing a lighter pasture on the other side of the trees, symbolic of the hope of so many of us that our pets will have a place in Heaven where we'll meet them later on. And now you can see him looking back withe the sunlight on the forest floor ready for his footfalls.

This is an an analogous painting in color, with the dominant hue being green. You'll find the blues and violets scattered amongst the fur of the dog, and the shadowed whites. The discords are in the trees as well, can you name them? If you have Hal Reed's color wheel, you can spin it and see exactly why this painting is so easy on the eyes. I learned a lot from that wheel, which is not your usual color mixing red-is-opposite-green wheel. You can order one by googling it, although Hal is gone now. I'm quite pleased with this commission, and I hope that the folks who've watched it unfold will be as well.

Tomorrow I'm shipping paintings and DVDs, and will begin yet one more commission--this time boats! I do so love the dog, cat, people and horse paintings, tho'.